Near the end of clinical training, nursing interns described professional benefits that went beyond learning procedures. In interviews, they spoke about support from departments, preceptors, families and friends; improvements in confidence and independence; rewards tied to nursing work; and a shift toward seeing nursing as a longer-term career. The study used a descriptive qualitative design, a way of examining people's accounts and recurring ideas rather than reducing them to a numerical result. Its analysis identified four main themes and 12 subthemes.
Researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 nursing interns in the later stage of clinical practicum at one tertiary Grade A comprehensive teaching hospital in Hainan Province. The team used inductive thematic analysis, meaning it built themes from what participants said, following a six-phase framework. NVivo 12.0 supported data management. Two researchers coded the material independently, and a third helped resolve disagreements.
Researchers reported reaching data saturation after 10 interviews, meaning later interviews were no longer adding new material. They conducted two supplementary interviews to check that assessment, and those produced no new data, leaving 12 participants in the final sample. All 12 interns then reviewed the thematic interpretation and endorsed it without proposing changes.
What interns described
The first theme centered on support. Interns described help at several levels: collaboration in their departments, guidance from preceptors, emotional care from family and encouragement from friends. In their accounts, support sat alongside lower practicum stress and stronger competence.
A second theme was clinical competence. Interns described improvement in clinical procedures, practical confidence and independence. They also spoke about communication, collaboration and a broader understanding of professional practice. These were perceptions reported in the interviews, not a score or independently measured change.
Professional rewards formed a third theme. The rewards described by interns included employment, education, salary, rest schedules and recognition, as well as the chance to help others. The accounts therefore included practical benefits and a sense of social purpose.
The fourth theme concerned professional conviction. Interns described reflecting and adjusting after setbacks, recognizing the value of nursing, and moving from viewing nursing as a stable job toward a longer-term career commitment. The study did not use a longitudinal measure of professional commitment.
Where the findings stop
The evidence is narrow. It comes from one hospital in one province, and the study looked only at the later practicum stage rather than comparing early, middle and later stages over time. Most participants intended to continue in nursing, which the authors say may have introduced selection or response bias and may have underrepresented interns facing severe transition shock or planning to leave the profession.
Those limits set a boundary around the findings. The themes provide a detailed account of what this group described, but the qualitative, single-site design cannot establish that support or practicum experience caused better competence or career commitment, or that the same pattern would appear in other hospitals, regions or educational settings. The findings are best read as an account of perceived professional benefits among these interns, not as a measure of outcomes for nursing trainees generally.
Paper data and sources
Original title: Perceived professional benefits among nursing interns in the later stage of clinical practicum: a descriptive qualitative study
Authors: Liu S, Lin F, Xue C et al.
Journal/Repository: Frontiers in medicine
Status: Peer-reviewed
First online: 2026-10-09
DOI: Not available
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